9.—Jones jobbed Orme on the nose, and then on the cheek, but the blows, although well from the shoulder, left no mark. Orme seemed remarkably slow in showing contusions, while Jones was already much disfigured. Jones forced Orme towards his corner; Orme rushed forward as Jones retreated in turn; he let go both left and right viciously, but was short. Jones lunged out desperately with his right, and nailing Orme on the side of the head, knocked him clean down in the middle of the ring. (Cheers for the Shrewsbury Youth. First knock-down for Jones.)
10.—Orme came up smiling, and as Jones made himself up for following his supposed advantage, surprised him by dashing in and planting his left a smasher on the nose. A pounding rally followed, in which some heavy counter-hitting took place, each man standing well to his gun, until Jones fell under the ropes.
For the next fifteen rounds the fighting grew quicker, the sparring less tedious, and the rallies more frequent. Jones, taking a leaf out of his opponent’s book, planted several slashing hits with his right on the side of Orme’s head, but being the taller man, he frequently hit too high, and his hand, rather than Orme’s hard skull, suffered. The East-Ender took his punishment patiently, and was with Jones in nearly all his attempts, with heavy right-handers on the left ribs, which gradually impaired the force of Jones’s hitting, and when they got closer still, his ponderous right fell on his cheek-bone or temple, till Jones was nearly blinded. The Shrewsbury man, however, was yet as strong as Orme, and was the better wrestler, for he threw his adversary in several of these rounds. Towards the 25th round, however, the repeated right-handers of Orme began to tell their tale, and Jones grew slower and weaker. In the last-mentioned round Orme led off, and hit Jones sharply in the head, repeating the dose without a return. Jones attempted to force a rally, but Orme got down more cleverly than heretofore. Jones fought with great fairness, and was much applauded.
26.—Orme showed few marks of punishment, and was sent up by his seconds very clean, while Jones grew more disfigured each round. The men fought somewhat wildly, but managed to exchange some stinging counters, which led to a close; but Jones was now unable to throw his opponent, and both were down.
27 to 35.—(Two hours and twenty-nine minutes had elapsed, and no odds were obtainable; indeed, it was yet on the cards for either to win.) Burn called to his man, Jones, to come away from Orme’s corner, and let the East-Ender come to him. Jones, who was evidently distressed, did so, and the same style of fighting was pursued. Jones fell from weakness in the 32nd round, which Orme noting, he forced the fighting again, and, in the 35th round delivered several of his slogging hits at close quarters with such staggering effect that Jones, whose returns were slight, dropped in the rally.
36.—The last two or three rounds had told their tale, and it was evident that Jones’s chance was fading. (3 to 1 offered on Orme without takers.) Jones came up as game as a man could be, and still tried to look cheerful; but his knees were tottery, and he was plainly “going.” Orme went to him, forced another rally, and, after one or two heavy hits, dropped him with a right-hander. (“Take him away.”)
37 and 38.—In each of these rounds Jones came to the scratch, and made one or two futile attempts to stop his adversary’s rush, dropping on his knee on receiving a hit from Orme.
39.—Orme paused, as if hesitating to strike his opponent, who was quite at his mercy. Jones made a peck at him, and received a touch on the old spot in the ribs. It was but a push, yet it sent him to grass sideways.
40.—Loud cries of “Take him away!” Jones faced his opponent for the fortieth time, but he was all abroad. Orme gradually forced him back into his corner, and harmlessly sent him down, when Hannan threw up the sponge in token of Jones’s defeat.
The fight lasted two hours and forty-five minutes, including several tedious rounds, and much useless breaking ground, advancing, and retreating. It was, nevertheless, a truly hard fight, and the two powerful boxers who made their début on this occasion inflicted severe mutual punishment. It was manifest, early in the battle, that Orme was the more lasting of the two, and much the heavier hitter. It seemed, also, that Jones had commenced his career too early.